Latin Via Proverbs 146

I hope these notes will help you tackle this group of proverbs in Latin Via Proverbs. This group includes the final group of third conjugation verbs with third declension nouns!

Please note: to read the proverbs in Latin, you need to acquire a copy of the book from lulu.com! What I am providing here in the blog are notes to help people who are making their way through the book either in a Latin class or on their own. You can find more help at the LatinViaProverbs.com wiki website.

Group 146

1875. Golden reins do not make a better horse. (You will find this wonderful saying in Seneca.)

1876. Bad conversations corrupt good characters. (You can find this saying in many forms, and it even shows up in Pascal!)

1877. When the abbot sets up the checker board, the monks play. (In other words, when the abbot sets such an example by his own behavior, of course the monks will imitate it!)

1878. Everywhere, the richer people oppress those who are poorer. (You can find this saying in Bernard of Clairvaux.)

1879. Longer shadows are cast from the taller hills. (This saying is adapted from Vergil.)

1880. The smaller dogs find the hares; the big dogs grab them. (I think I would prefer to be a one of the big dogs!)

1881. The noisy drums cannot catch the light-footed hares. (This is a bit like the English saying about "catching more flies with honey." If you make a loud noise, you are going to scare those rabbits away.)

1882. Not far from its own trunk do the apples fall. (Compare the English saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.")

1883. From a sweet tree fall sweet fruits. (This motif of "by their fruits you shall know them" has Biblical echoes too, of course.)

1884. The light of the sun follows the shadowy storms. (You can find this saying discussed in Tosi 1706.)

1885. Men can run into each other; mountains cannot do so. (This is a saying that you can find in a variety of forms, which express the same basic idea but from various perspectives, for example, mons cum monte non miscebitur or, less cryptically, mons cum monte non miscebitur, pares cum paribus.)

1886. Against necessity not even the gods can resist. (You can find this saying in all manner of forms, for example, Necessitatem ne dii quidem superant..)

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This blog post is part of an evolving online guide for users of the book Latin Via Proverbs.

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